1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to input devices for computer systems, video games and other electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a game pad device that can be used both for playing games, and also for controlling digital video disk (DVD) systems, via software.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer applications are produced by an endless variety of manufacturers and developers. The commands to control these applications are as diverse as the numbers of applications themselves. In the field of computer gaming, for example, a user must learn one set of commands to play one game, and another set of commands to play another game. To make matters more complicated, each application may also use different input devices. If a user owns a game that requires keyboard entries, a game requiring a joystick, a Digital Video Disk (DVD) player requiring specific keyboard commands, and an internet browser requiring mouse commands, the user must have two or three different input devices coupled to the user's computer. Switching between applications entails switching between input devices, or, more likely, coupling and decoupling input devices from the computer as most computers only have a limited amount of input/output ports.
Conventional input devices and game pads have other drawbacks. Keyboards are bulky and typically have slow response time. Wireless remote input devices are expensive due to their wireless features, and they require an additional device to be coupled to the computer. Mousetype controllers require desktop space for control and to be fully effective. Moreover, mousetype controllers only have only two buttons, and in rare instances three, and complicated navigation requires more buttons than mouse-type controllers can provide. In particular, in order to control a DVD-player more than one button must be pressed sequentially. Conventional mouse controllers cannot provide this type of functionality. Although joysticks are useful input devices for controlling games, they are not useful for controlling other applications. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus and method for using the same device to access video game machines, computers, and DVD systems.